Clothesline pulley hand guard



May 29, 1956 R. G. KLARE cLoTHEsLINE PULLEY HAND GUARD Filed Feb. 1l

INVENTOR.

vI Jnited States Patent "ice This invention relates to a device formed separately Vfrom but adapted for detachable `connection to a conventional clothes line pulley, to provide a guard that will prevent the lingers of a users hand from being 'cut `on the pulley wheel when the clothes line is being pulled in.

A vconventional clothes line pulley has a generally T- shaped frame in which the pulley wheel is rotatably mounted, said frame including a rope guideextending diametrically of the pulley wheel and formed as an oval or rectangular frame member projecting at its ends beyond the periphery of the wheel.

In the use of a pulley of this type, no protectionv Vis f alorded ones hand, while the clothes line is being `pulled in. The hand grips the line adjacent the pulley, and in pulling the gripped iiight of the clothes line toward the pulley, it is a not uncommon occurrence .for one to be unable to remove his or her hand from fthe line in time to prevent it from being caught between the Vline and the edge of the grooved wheel. As a result, injury to the hand is oftenincurred.

In view of the above, the main object ofthe present invention is to provide a hand guard attachment for ay i conventional clothes line pulley, which will have a .lineguiding means spaced outwardly from the pulley, through which means both flights of the clothes line extend with said means being adapted to project as an abutment in the path of ones hand when the clothes line is being pulled in, thus to prevent the hand from being cut against the pulley wheel.

A more specific object of the invention is to so design the hand guard as to permit it to be manufactured separately from the pulleys, and attached to a pulley that is already in use without requiring modications or redesign of the pulley in any way. To this end, the invention, summarized briefly, is a generally C-shaped body having a bight formed with spaced line-guiding slots, saidk bight being spaced outwardly from the periphery of the pulley wheel. Legs extend laterally from the opposite ends of the bight in one direction, to locations proximate the extremities of the line guide of the pulley frame. Clamping means is provided on the free ends of the legs, adapted for swift and easy connection to the opposite ends of the line guide of the pulley frame, thus to permit the mounting of the device on the conventional pulley with maximum facility.

Another specilic object of the invention is to so form the attachment as to permit its connection to the pulley without requiring removal of the pulley from its associated support and without, further, disengaging the endless clothes line from the pulley wheel.

Still another object of the invention is to form the invention in such a manner as to permit its manufacture at a relatively low cost, without sacrifice of strength, eiciency, and durability thereof.

Other objects will appear from .the following Adescription, the claims Vappended thereto, and from the annexed drawing, in which like reference characters designate like parts throughout the several views, and wherein:

2,747,747 Patented May 29, 1956 -Figure l is a side elevational View of a -conventional pulley and of a hand guard attachment formed in accordance with the present invention, an endless clothes Iline tra-ined about the pulley being shown fragmentarily;

Figure 2 is a top plan View of the pulley, clothes line, and attachment;

Figure 3 is a front elevational view of the hand guard the clothes line being shown in dotted lines; and

Figure 4 is a perspective View of the guard per se.

- A conventional clothes line pulley 1t) includes a pulley frame of T-shape having a U-shape yoke 12 the bight of which is engageable with .a pulley mounting means, not

shown, such as a hook yscrewed into an adjacent support. At their outer ends, the legs of yoke 12 are integral with the midlength portion of a line guide 14 formed as an elongated, oblong frame member extending diametrically of the pulley wheel and projecting at its closed ends outwardly from diametrically opposite points on the periphery 4of the wheel. At the intersection of yoke 12 land .guide 14, .transversely aligned openings are formed in `the opposite sides of the guide, receiving the ends of a pin or axle 16 on which is rotatably mounted, in the space between .the legs of the yoke 12 and the sides of the yline guide 14, a pulley `wheel 118 about which is trained an endless clothes line 20.

The above described pulley construction is conventional, and does not per se constitute part of the present invention.

The 'hand guard 22 constituting lthe invention is formed as a C-shaped body fashioned from a single .piece of flat, Irigid barmaterial, and includes fa straight, flat bight 24 paralleling the line guide 14 4in closely spaced relation to the periphery of wheel 13. Integral with the opposite ends of kbight 24 and projecting laterally in the same direction from the bight in perpendicular relation thereto, are flat, parallellegs 26 terminating at their free ends in closely spaced relation to the extremities of the line guide 14.

Adjacent the opposite ends of bight 24, there are formed therein vguide slots 2S for the ights of line 20. These are of L-shape, and include transverse slot portions '30 the outer ends of which open upon one side edge of bight 24, and the inner ends of which terminate medially between the opposite side edges ofthe bight. Communicating with the inner ends of slot portions 30 are inner slot portions 32 extending longitudinally Iand centrally of 4bight 24. As shown in Figure 3, slot portions 32 extend in opposite directions from the transverse slot portions 30, extending from the slot portions 30 toward the adjacent ends of bight 24, with the longitudinal or inner slot portions 32 having closed ends adjacent the opposite extremities of the bight.

On the free ends of legs 26 there are integrally formed clamping extensions 34 projecting toward the bight 34 in the space between legs 26, in closely spaced, parallel relation to their associated legs. 4In the legs, adjacent the free ends thereof, threaded `openings are formed, receiving clamping screws 36 threadable inwardly toward the associated clamping extensions 34.

'In use, the guard is attached `to a conventional clothes line pulley that is already in use in Ithe following manner. The guard is held at one side of the pulley and clothes line in a plane oblique to that of `the pulley wheel at a location slightly to the right of that shown in 'Figure 1. The guard is now shifted to .the left in Figure 1 while still held in said planes, to locate the closed ends of the line guide 14 in the clamping slots defined between the extensions 34 and their associated legs 26. Then, the guard is swung laterally about an axis `delined by the coaxial clamping screws 36, while the flights of the clothes line 20 are pressed together slightly to align the same with the open ends of transverse Slot portions 30. The flights will now move into the slot portions 30, and when released, will shift by reason of their inherent tension into the slot portions 32, to the positions shown in dotted lines in Figure 3. The screws 36 are now turned home against the ends of guide 14, to tixedly secure the guard in place upon the guide.

The device is now ready for use, and Whenever the clothes line is gripped and one ight thereof pulled toward pulley wheel 18, the guard will be interposed as an abutment that will deflect the hand should it move too close to the pulley wheel, to prevent injury.

It is believed apparent that the invention is not necessarily conned to the specific use or uses thereof described above, since it may be utilized for any purpose to which it may be suited. Nor is the invention to be necessarily limited to the specific construction illustrated and described, since such construction is only intended to be illustrative of the principles, it being considered that the invention comprehends any minor change in construction that may be permitted within the scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is: l

1. A hand guard attachment for a clothes line -pulley of the type including a pulley wheel and a line guide extending diametrically of said wheel, comprising a C- shaped body including a bight having intermediate its ends spaced guide slots for the ights of an endless clothes line, said slots being of L-shape, each slot having an outer portion extending transversely of the bight and opening upon one side edge of the bight to engage the bight with the line by lateral movement of the bight toward the line, legs extending laterally from the ends of said fbight for disposition proximate the ends of 'the line guide, and means on the leg adapted to clampably engage said ends of the guide.

2. A hand guard attachment for a clothes line pulley of the type including a pulley Wheel and a line guide extending diametrically of said wheel, comprising a C- shaped body including a bight having intermediate its ends spaced guide slots for the flights of an endless clothes line, said slots being of L-shape, each slot having an outer portion extending transversely of the lbight and opening upon one side edge of the bight to engage the bight with the line by lateral movement of the bight toward the line, legs rigid at one end with the respective ends of the bight, clamping extensions on the other ends of the legs projecting toward the bight in closely spaced parallel relation to their associated legs to define at the other ends of the legs clamping slots open at one end to receive the ends of the line guide, said clamping slots lying in planes paralleling the path of movement of the line-receiving slots to permit said lateral movement of the bight, and screws extending into the clamping slots to clampably engage the ends of the line guide therein.

3. A hand guard attachment for a clothes line pulley of the type including a pulley wheel and a line guide extending diametrically of said wheel, comprising a C-shaped body including a bight having intermediate its ends spaced guide slots for the flights of an endless clothes line, said slots being of L-shape, each slot including an outer portion extending transversely of the bight, the outer portions of both slots opening upon one side edge of the bight to engage the bight with the line by lateral movement of the bight toward the line, said slots further having inner end portions extending longitudinally of the bight inopposite directions from the transverse portions to receive the line following movement of the line through the outer slot portions, legs rigid at one end with the respective ends of the bight and extending perpendicularly to the length of the bight, clam-ping extensions on the other ends of the legs projecting toward the bight in closely spaced parallel relation to their associated legs to define 4at said other ends of the legs clamping slots open at one end to receive the ends of the line guide, said clamping slots lying in planes paralleling the transverse portions of the rst named slots to permit said lateral movement of the bight, and screws threaded in the legs and extending into the clamping slots to clampably engage the ends of the line guide therein.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,436,725 `Robertson et al Nov. 28, 1922 y1,567,842 Haller et al Dee. 29, 1925 1,644,164 Adams Oct. 4, 1927 2,056,481 Pauli Oct. 6, 1936 

